RIGHTS 3

For almost ten years, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s government perpetrated unimaginable human rights violations throughout the country. It concluded its term with a bloody record of 1,206 extrajudicially killed, 206 missing, and 371 political prisoners (341 of whom were arrested during its term), excluding thousands of other cases of rights violations. Most of the victims are activists, government critics and innocent civilians accused by the military and the state of being communists or terrorists.

But the end of the Arroyo government did not, in any way, indicate an end to the atrocities.

The promise of change mouthed by the new Aquino administration could have given the Filipino people hope that the atrocities would end. Barely a month after it took office, six individuals were extrajudicially killed, three of them members of the progressive partylist group Bayan Muna.

It is clear that the struggle to defend human rights in the country should, and will continue, as the fight for justice for all victims. Necessarily, efforts to expose these continuing atrocities must be intensified. For there is danger that the climate of impunity worsens as the present administration exploits its popular electoral mandate. In his first SONA, the president and commander-in-chief refused to accept findings by local and international institutions stating that human rights violations are intricately connected to his armed forces’ fascistic counter-insurgency policy.

Instead, the new president adopted the Arroyo regime’s counter-insurgency program, Oplan Bantay Laya. After 5 months in office, the number of victims extrajudicial killings under his administration rose to 26.

Thus, in the spirit of vigilance and strong commitment to the advancement and protection of human rights, this third installment of RIGHTS was organized.

RIGHTS is a pioneering compilation of independently produced – human rights themed short films/public service advertisements (PSAs). Initiated by Southern Tagalog Exposure and the Free Jonas Burgos Movement in 2007, RIGHTS exposes the incessant human rights hostilities in the Philippines. It is an open and continuing call for filmmakers to participate in the growing movement to defend and uphold human rights.